It has been known that silver halide color photographic materials undergo color development in which the resulting oxidation product of an aromatic primary amine color developing agent reacts with a coupler to produce indophenol, indoaniline, indamine, azomethine, phenoxazine, phenazine, and analogous dyes, forming color images. In this process, a subtractive color process is normally employed to effect color reproduction. Silver halide emulsions which are selectively sensitive to blue, green and red light, and agents for the formation of color images complementary to these colors, i.e., yellow, magenta and cyan are used in the subtractive color process. In order to form a yellow color image, acylacetanilide or dibenzoylmethane couplers are used. In order to form a magenta color image, pyrazolone, pyrazolobenzimidazole, pyrazolopyrazole, pyrazolotriazole, cyanoacetophenone or indazolone couplers are mainly used. In order to form a cyan color image, phenol or naphthol couplers are mainly used.
However, dyes thus produced from these couplers do not exhibit an ideal absorption spectrum. In particular, magenta and cyan dyes thus produced exhibit a broad absorption spectrum or subsidiary absorption in a short wavelength range. This is not desirable with respect to color reproduction in color photographic light-sensitive materials.
In particular, such a subsidiary absorption in a short wavelength range. tends to cause a drop in saturation. This disadvantage can be somewhat reduced by developing an interimage effect.
Examples of approaches for improving this interimage effect include the use of DIR hydroquinones as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,379,529, 3,620,746, 4,377,634, and 4,332,878, and JP-A-49-129536 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application").
These DIR hydroquinones undergo oxidation during development to release a development inhibitor. However, when the rate of oxidation of these hydroquinones during development is raised to such an extent that the interimage effect is improved, photographically significant disadvantages develop (e.g., increase of fogging during preservation of raw products or during development). On the contrary, when the reducing power of these DIR hydroquinones is lowered to such an extent that such an increase of fogging is developed, it causes a lack of reducing power during development and hence a lack of release of a development inhibitor, giving little or no improvements in the interimage effect.
When a fog inhibitor as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,131,038, 2,694,716, 2,444,605, and 2,232,707 is used in combination with such a DIR hydroquinone, fogging can be somewhat inhibited, but the development activity of the DIR hydroquinone is lowered, causing a drop in the interimage effect.
As mentioned above, it has heretofore been very difficult to develop a great interimage effect without causing the DIR hydroquinone to increase fogging. It has thus been keenly desired to provide an approach for developing an interimage effect while preventing the DIR hydroquinone from increasing fogging.